Kiss the Rain
by Merridews
Summary: "Looks like she's got a bit of a crush on you, Freddie," George smirked matter-of-factly as they were walking.  "You think so?" Fred wondered.
1. Fast Heartbeats

**A/N: **I know I have another Fremione fic in the works, but I felt really inspired to start this story. By no means did I abandon the other one :P. Um... I kind of wrote this quickly, and I don't have a beta reader, so don't kill me if it's not as great as it could be.

Don't ask me why I decided to name this fic 'Kiss the Rain'. The only reason I have is not entirely good; it's because I was listening to the song (by Thriving Ivory) while writing this. Kissing the rain has nothing to do with the actual story. I mean, why would Hermione need water when she's got her own freckly red-haired handsome bloke to do it to (and don't you dare ask if I'm talking about Ron).

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: Fast Heartbeats<strong>

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><p>Hermione Granger was nervous as it was, the last thing she needed was to trip over the carpet and send her books flying across the train. The last thing she needed was to be humiliated; more so than she already had been that morning as a group of pureblood wizards cracked jokes about her blood status. The last thing she needed was to, after picking up all her books, run headfirst into a tall pale wizard with red hair.<p>

"Oh, I'm sorry," Hermione apologized, before even looking up to see his freckled face. Her books were scattered around her yet again.

Bracing herself for the response the boy might give her; she had narrowed it down to two options. He was either going to say something along the lines of "Stupid prat, watch where you're going!" or "Your book nearly dropped on my foot! Get out of my way!" However, to Hermione's surprise, the boy kept silent while she was reaching for her books. It wasn't until Hermione had lost all patience and decided to make eye contact with him, did she realize he was smirking.

"Oh," Hermione said accidentally, blushing redder than ever before. She was expecting a hateful scowl, as well as a frustrated crease in his forehead.

"What… are you reading?" The boy asked, completely ignoring the fact that she had just clumsily crashed into him while searching for her compartment.

"_Hogwarts, A History_, of course, as well as all the required text books," Hermione stammered, getting to her feet.

"You're reading _Hogwarts, A History_ in your first year?" He continued to question.

It shouldn't have bothered Hermione, but it did. Why didn't he just accept the fact that she had completely and utterly ran into him, and was now keeping him from going back to his compartment? Why did he have to prolong the awkwardness by asking her stupid questions?

"Yes, is there a problem?" Hermione sighed, deciding that it would probably seem rude of her if she didn't answer. However, she couldn't help the edge that snuck its way into her tone of voice.

"No. It's just heavy reading, that's all. And boring."

"I think it's quite interesting, actually."

"You don't learn anything in that book."

"Well, as a muggle-born like myself, I use it to learn about Hogwarts."

"Why do you need that book when you know a person like me? I'm an excellent tour guide, you know," The boy said with a wink.

Hermione rolled her eyes. It wasn't as if she truly _knew_ him, he didn't even tell her his name. Deciding to introduce herself so she could actually consider themselves acquaintances, she opened her mouth—only for a voice to cut her off.

"You won't believe it! I saw Harry Potter a couple minutes ago!" A dark-skinned boy shouted enthusiastically, running over to them, and shoving Hermione to the side to get the red-haired boy's full attention.

"Yeah, I saw him, already, Lee," The pale boy retorted, his smile turning into a bit of a frown.

"Why didn't you say so? Come on then, Angelina can only save our seats for so long," The boy, Lee, said hastily, running down the hall.

"Well, I'll see you around then," The freckled boy muttered before sprinting off.

Hermione stared after him, still in a minor state of shock. She wondered if he was a first year like her, but then automatically ruled out that option, since he seemed to know his way around Hogwarts. Second year? By the looks of it, he was probably at least two or three years older than her.

If it weren't for Neville, who had run out of his compartment frantically, she probably would've stood there for a considerable amount of time.

"Something wrong, Neville?" Hermione asked curiously, turning her head.

"Trevor!" Neville responded hurriedly, "Trevor's gone!"

"Trevor?"

"My toad!" Neville basically shouted, opening someone else's compartment door and asking the group of first years inside it if they had seen his pet.

"I'll help," Hermione assured him, knowing that this was a good opportunity to look for the red-haired boy. It wasn't as if she liked the boy or anything, it was merely because she was interested in him. Yes, she told herself, that's all it was. She just wanted to know more about him. Whatever crush she had thought she was having was entirely nonexistent.

Hermione opened compartment after compartment, scanning the area before quickly asking about Neville's lost toad. The train was huge, and for all she knew, he might not even be sitting in this particular section. It didn't matter how much she wanted to find the boy, or the toad, Hermione wasn't going to waste the whole trip looking for them. She needed some time to reread her books before school started.

After an hour of searching, Hermione was ready to give up, and reasoned that perhaps Neville had already found Trevor. However, on her way back to her compartment, she stopped to see… the redheaded boy!

She blinked once. She blinked again. He was really there! He seemed to be chatting with a couple Slytherins, but he didn't look too happy. Hermione hoped he didn't belong in that house. After doing some research, she had found out that the Slytherin house would never accept a muggle-born like herself… not that she wanted to be in the same house as the boy, of course. Hermione mentally slapped herself for thinking it.

Either way, she decided that a chance like this might never pop up again, so she straightened up and coughed a bit too loudly to grab his attention.

"What?" The boy asked, his head whipping around. Once his eyes latched onto Hermione's, the bitterness faded in his voice. "Oi, sorry, I thought you were… someone else."

The tone of his voice was a bit different than when they had talked earlier, but Hermione waved it off.

"Um, I just wanted to introduce myself," Hermione muttered, her words were a bit incoherent and she realized from the look on the boy's face that he could hardly understand what she was saying either. She started to look down at her shoes nervously and finally made her voice project louder. "I'm Hermione Granger, I ran into you earlier, but I never got a chance to introduce myself."

She took a breath.

The boy seemed to grow even more confused, as if he had no idea what she was talking about. "Sorry? I don't think we've ever met."

Hermione gave him an incredulous look. She swore it was him who she had run into earlier that day. Yes, it was definitely him! So why did he look confused? Hermione bit her lip, feeling a bit hurt. The only conclusion would be that he was perhaps, 'too cool', to socialize with a 'dirty muggle-born' like herself. After all, he _was_ in Slytherin.

"George!"

Hermione turned around to see who had interrupted her thoughts.

"George! Harry Potter's sitting in Ron's compartment! Why do you reckon that such a famous bloke would want to talk to… well, ickle Ronnikens?" The voice seemed familiar, oddly familiar.

George, or the boy who she assumed was now named George, smiled brightly when he realized who was calling him. "Fred! I was lookin' for you… and so was this girl."

Realizing that the attention was suddenly on her, Hermione turned completely red, silently hoping that the two would get too caught up in their conversation to notice the first year standing awkwardly between them.

"Oi! It's the Book-Girl!"

Recognizing the voice in a heartbeat, Hermione looked up on impulse. It was the boy she had run into earlier, and he was smiling widely at her. Feeling a blush creep up her cheeks, Hermione turned to the other direction briefly.

"Her name's Granger, Hermione Granger," George introduced. "Think she thought I was you or somethin', kept trying to make me believe that I had actually seen her before."

Hermione continued to chew on her lip.

"Well 'ello Miss Granger," Fred smiled, sending a group of butterflies to settle in Hermione's stomach. "I'm Fred. Fred Weasley."

"And I'm George, George Weasley."

"We're twins."

"Identical."

"If you haven't noticed."

Putting a hand over her mouth, Hermione tried her best to suppress the giggles she had when listening to them and their synchronization on the last phrase. "It's nice to meet you Fred and George."

Although the sentence was directed at both of them, she couldn't help but stare at Fred while saying it. He seemed to have noticed too, and turned a bit pink.

"Well hopefully we'll see you in the common room, but a smart witch like you'd probably end up in Ravenclaw," Fred smirked, before whisking his brother and him off down the hall to go find Harry Potter and their brother, Ron.

Hermione watched them leave, but snapped back to reality when she realized the train would arrive soon, and she hadn't even changed into her robes yet.

Once she was running the opposite direction and clearly out of earshot, George turned to his brother.

"Looks like she's got a bit of a crush on you, Freddie," George smirked matter-of-factly as they were walking.

"You think so?" Fred wondered.


	2. Red Tomatoes

**Annabeth De Luca **said: I like it! I'm wondering if you are going to keep going in their first year or if this is just sort of a flashback type thing?

I'm planning to continue the story throughout each book until the fifth (which is where my story will end). I'm not going to do a chapter for every single part of the books, just writing when Fred and Hermione bump heads, and etc. I'll probably end up writing most of it through Fred's point of view, because we all know where Hermione is most of the time in the series.

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><p><strong>Chapter 2: Red Tomatoes<strong>

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><p>Standing in line to be sorted was one of the most nerve wrecking things Hermione had ever participated in during the course of her life. Despite being the first generation of her family at Hogwarts, she still didn't want to fail them, and herself, by being put in an unsuitable house. And what if she got lost? The school was much bigger in real life than in the pages of her books, and being late to class on her first day would not look good to the teachers. Most importantly, or maybe not so importantly (her mind often debated with itself), what if she never got to see Fred again because they were in different houses?<p>

The last one seemed absurd, and very un-Hermione like. Since when did she care for who was in her house? Since when had she been so naïve? She hadn't even had a complete conversation with him, and she already considered them as friends. They weren't friends, Hermione reminded herself. They were acquaintances at best.

Analyzing her peers, Hermione noticed that most of them seemed to be just as ill composed as her. However, unlike _her _worries, a lot of them seemed to be stressed about what the sorting hat ceremony _was_. Rolling her eyes, Hermione reprimanded them inside her head. If they had bothered to read _Hogwarts, A History_, they wouldn't have to worry. Suddenly, a loud, rather obnoxious voice interrupted her thoughts. It was Ron, no doubt; he was telling Harry Potter that his brother Fred had told him the test had to do with wrestling trolls.

Fred? Was that the name she had heard?

A million clicks went off in her head as she pieced it together. It all made so much sense now. The red hair, the freckles; Ron was related to the twins!

Grinning to herself, Hermione began to formulate a plan. Maybe, just maybe if she were able to become friends with Ron, then she would see Fred more often. She glanced at the redhead once again. Hermione shuddered. It would be challenging to become friends with such an… oaf. The boy had no etiquette whatsoever, and by the looks of it, he definitely would not be able to keep up with her conversations about sciences and intellect.

"Hermione Granger!"

Hermione's eyes widened. She was so busy thinking, that she had no idea her turn would come so quickly.

"Relax," She told herself under her breath, while running up towards Professor McGonagall. Grabbing the hat anxiously, Hermione jammed it onto her head.

_Very smart. Very, very, smart. Hardworking, loyal… difficult. Courageous, brave. Hmmm…_

The voice shook Hermione for a bit, but she ignored the weird feeling as best as she could. Most things in the wizarding world were strange, so she'd have to start getting used to them at some point. Hermione looked over at the Slytherin table, trying to locate Fred and George. Unfortunately the only students she recognized were the few that had rudely shoved her out of their way when boarding the train.

_Ravenclaw, yes, Ravenclaw would be best._

Hermione scanned the area hurriedly; she hoped that maybe her decisions would sway the sorting hat. Ravenclaw wouldn't be bad, she supposed, but there was no sign of two ginger identical twins sitting anywhere on that section of the room. Her eyes glanced over at the Gryffindor table, and she spotted three redheaded boys. Red hair. That was good enough for her.

"Gryffindor," She muttered to herself. "Please."

_Not Ravenclaw? A smart witch would fit in easily with that house. No? If you're sure…_

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Hermione grinned widely, as the hat was pulled off her head, and she skipped over to the Gryffindor table. She heard Ron groan, but ignored it, rushing over to find a seat.

"Congratulations, Hermione!" One of the redheads beamed, shaking her hand. "I'm Percy Weasley."

Hermione smiled and looked over to catch Fred staring at her. When he realized she had noticed, he turned his head and pretended that he was talking to Lee the whole time.

"Good job, Granger," George smiled, shaking her hand after Percy's. He elbowed his brother who was doing his best to ignore the jabs at his side.

"Freddie, you going to congratulate the new girl?"

Fred shot a glare at George, and there seemed to be a moment's hesitation as they shared a telepathic thought. After a few seconds, Fred turned his full attention to Hermione (making her blush madly) and flashed her an incredibly awkward smile. "Oh, yeah… good job."

"You were right, by the way," Hermione said, trying to relieve the tension.

"What?"

"The sorting hat wanted to put me in Ravenclaw, but I asked to be in Gryffindor."

"I wonder why," George smirked, receiving a kick to his ankle under the table. "Ouch, Fred."

"HARRY POTTER!"

Suddenly, the whole room went silent, except for several whispers hissing through each house. Percy, who was beginning to tell Hermione about the quirks of being a Gryffindor, stopped talking almost immediately.

There were a few moments of silence as Harry squirmed under the hat.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

As quickly as it went quiet, the uproar was back, and all the Gryffindors clapped loudly.

"WE GOT POTTER! WE GOT POTTER!" Fred and George shouted in unison, making Hermione laugh.

Nervously, Harry walked over to the table, greeting Hermione with a nod. Fred and George were still chanting, and Percy had stood up from the table, shaking the famous boy's hand vigorously.

After the shouts and hoots had died down, Harry took a seat next to George, and looked over to see what other students would be sorted into.

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><p>"So Granger, why'd you want to be sorted into Gryffindor?" George wondered, grinning as though he was playing a joke that only he would understand.<p>

Fred was talking quidditch with Lee, but stopped once he heard George speaking with Hermione.

"Oh, well," Hermione mumbled, planning what she was going to say. She could either tell them the truth: because she wanted to be in the same house as them. Or, she could say something that would seem less creepy and more socially acceptable.

"I just think it's the better house for me," Hermione shrugged nonchalantly, avoiding George's gaze.

"I'll say," George smiled, earning another kick under the table.

"Hermione," Fred continued. "We never told you what house we were in, right?"

"Um… no."

Fred smirked matter-of-factly as his brother, before taking another bite of his chicken. The whole twin telepathy ordeal was starting to bother Hermione. They kept exchanging looks, and she couldn't help but wonder what they were thinking. They weren't thinking of her, were they? She hoped not.

"Are you two Ron's older brothers?" She asked desperately. Even though she already knew the answer, Hermione was feeling slightly uncomfortable under the gazing pairs of eyes.

"Yeah," Fred started.

"We've got three and a half brothers—"

"And one sister—"

"We're all Gryffindors… well except Ginny."

"She's too young."

"Is Ron you half brother?" Hermione asked. That would explain so much. She couldn't honestly believe a person like Ron would be directly related to people like the twins.

"No, no. Ickle Ronnikens is all right."

"It's Percy that's the problem."

"Yeah, we only count him as half."

"Because he's such a git."

Percy, who obviously overheard, shot Fred and George a glare before going back to his discussion with Harry.

Hermione giggled and took another bite of her food. The tension that was between her and Fred seemed to die down a bit, but she couldn't help but wonder what triggered it in the first place.

"You going to try out for the quidditch team?" George asked again.

"Oh gosh no. First years never make it on the team, and it really doesn't seem like my sport," Hermione replied.

"Well, you never know," Fred piped in. "Besides, we're on the team, and that should be enough incentive for you."

Hermione felt a blush start to form on her face, but realized Fred was joking since he smiled afterwards. There was something about his smile that Hermione liked; it just seemed so genuine and pleasant.

"Hermione, you're looking a bit red, you all right?"

This time it was Neville speaking. If Hermione could, she would've pushed Neville off his seat at that moment. Thanks to him, Fred started chew on his bottom lip nervously. Hermione recognized that action as an act of discomfort and embarrassment.

Fred was embarrassed? Hermione felt lightheaded and began shoveling food into her mouth as a distraction.

"Hermione, should I get Madame Pomfrey? You're red as a tomato!"

Clenching her fists and turning redder by the minute, Hermione swore if Neville uttered one more word about the color of her face, she would've knocked him out of his seat and hit him with her edition of _Hogwarts, A History_.

"It's just hot in here, that's all," Fred interrupted before Neville could say anything else.

"Oh, well, if you're sure, Hermione. I don't want you to pass—"

A hand slapped onto his face, cutting the boy off abruptly.

"So, Fred, George, what position do you two play?" Hermione asked nonchalantly, her hand still firm over Neville's mouth.


End file.
